


The Search For Kukui (A Pokemon SUMO Mermaid AU Story)

by Blazechan



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:08:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23013763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blazechan/pseuds/Blazechan
Summary: After a surprising meeting with a merboy, Leia Ferstein is recruited to find the king of a dying kingdom. With the help of some undersea friends, can she save Tapulia before it's too late?





	1. Close Encounter of The Ocean Kind

**Author's Note:**

> This story is heavily based off the Sierra adventure game, "Ecoquest". 
> 
> I apologize if I write any character out of character. Oh and Leia is my custom Sun and Moon protagonist.

A bottlenose dolphin splash and swam through the big sea surrounding the Alola region. It jumped and leaped out of the water at any opportunity it could, thinking it would be faster if it did so continuously. 

  
The dolphin, despite it’s frantic movements, was enjoying the energy of swimming so fast and leaping so high. It was so lost in the thrill that it didn’t notice the floating fishing net that was floating aimlessly in the sea. Swimming right into it, the dolphin struggled to break free, squirming and shaking in a desperate attempt to get out, alas it’s attempts were useless. 

  
Fortunately for the dolphin, a medium size boat was drifting on the water near it. Noticing the dolphin’s plight, two people in black and blue uniforms quickly got into their diving suits and jumped it to rescue it. 

  
“Cut the net! The quicker, the better!” one of them commanded the other, doing just so. Despite now being free from it’s restraints, the dolphin was still injured and terrified. It lied motionless as the two workers brought the dolphin to the Nether Agency (a organization who’s goal it is to reduce pollution and protect animals and pokemon affected by it) facility. 

Leia was reading The Little Mermaid while her mother was looking out of the window of their residential quarters, which showed the populated beach full of people enjoying the Alolan sun.

  
“If you want to go outside and play, that’s okay by me. You should take a break, dear. ” Leia’s mother suggested to her, Leia closed the book, stood up and looked at her mother with nervousness. 

  
“I would...but...I don’t really know any of those people...” Leia anxiously replied, thinking her mother wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. “It’s always that way when you move, sweetie. You’ll make friends in no time.” Her mother comforted her. “Maybe later...” she responded. 

  
Her mother walked towards the box with the oil-covered Wingull. “Since you’re staying indoors, why not do a little favor for me?” she proposed. Leia walked over to the box, “Sure. What do you need?” she asked. 

  
“Found this little darling this morning, these oil spills never fail to make me shed a tear.” Her mother explained directing her eyesight towards the Wingull, “I think he deserves a good bath, get a rag ready, dear” Her mother added, Leia grabbing the rag and detergent off the table as soon as her mother said so, handing them to her. 

  
Her mother picked up the shivering Wingull and proceeded to wipe away the oil of it’s feathers. “Make sure to apply the soap with the grain of the feathers. It’ll get the most oil off without breaking them. “Yuck...will he be okay?” Leia asked sympathetically if not a little disgusted. “I’m afraid it’s not certain, we’re going to do all we can for it to thrive once again” Her mother answered grimly. “Perhaps you can finish up” she told her. 

  
Passing the bird into her daughters arms, she watched as Leia scrubbed the oil off gently and efficiently. “Should we set him free?” She asked, looking up at her mom. “Best not to, the soap removes the oils that allow him to fly, he will be Sharpedo food if we release him now” her mother answered warily.

  
“I hope there is something more we can do...” Leia muttered somberly, “I’m sure there is...not only must we clean up after the fact, we should do what we can to prevent it in the first place.” her mother consoled her. “Even this solution I created needs to have constant conditions like temperature and current in order to work...” she commented disappointingly, she handed her daughter a bottle of a different mix. “I think this will work better, if you find any oily coral, you should use some on it.” her mother suggested. 

  
Suddenly there was a knock at the door, Leia’s mother quickly rushing towards it to see who it was. She opened the door revealing a Nether employee with a package in his hands. “Package for Mrs. Fernstein” he addressed, “Oh thank you so much, sir” her mother gratefully thanked while grabbing the package out of the employees hands, waving the employee goodbye as he walked away and closing the door. 

  
“Is that for me?” Leia asked in curiosity, “It is, It’s from your father” her mother answered in obvious delight, handing her daughter the package. “Remember to read the tag, sweetie” Her mother advised. Looking at the tag it read; 

**To my very special ocean princess**   
**From: Dad**

  
Leia was excited to see what was in it, unwrapping the bow of the box diligently as possible, as to not seem disrespectful. Inside the box were four necklaces, each with a scallop shell, strung together with miniature pearls, each of them had a different colored shell, one blue, one yellow, one cyan, and one red. Right next to them there was a note. 

_**“I found these on my expedition and felt that you might like these, maybe give some to your best friends. Take care out there, be kind, and be good.”**_ \- **Love, Dad.**  
  
Leia’s smile was wider than it had ever been for a long time, that was one of the perks of having an explorer for a parent, you always get cool stuff. Her mother was the same way, no words needed to be said. 

  
“Oh dear, I’m almost late for the meeting scheduled today!” Her mother spoke in panic as she looked down at her watch. She grabbed her coat was about to leave when “Mother” Leia piped up at the last moment “Yes sweetheart?” her mother responded, only her torso could be seen peaking out of the door, “May I go play with the dolphin?” Leia asked rather nervously. Her mother smiled “Go ahead dear, just follow the instructions on the blackboard. He could use a little company now that he’s almost made a full recovery. Goodbye now, sweetie, I’ll see you at 10″ She answered and left. 

Leia changed into her Mareanie inspired two-piece swimsuit, tossed the box into the recycling bin next to the desk, and grabbed her trash bag for when she goes to the beach later, as well as her black messenger bag for her personal items. 

  
Stepping into the pool area, she saw the dolphin swimming in slow circles, presumably because of “Capture Stress Syndrome”. Placing her bags onto the counter with the yellow frisbee, she eyed the instructions on the chalkboard for about a minute and turned back to the dolphin. 

  
"Uh...Hey there, I see your doing better than yesterday, sooner or later you'll be released back into the wild in no time. We're not here to keep you or anything" Leia spoke to the dolphin, a little self concious of the fact she was speaking to a animal and not a human being. The dolphin stopped, showing that her voice got to him, he eyed the bucket filled with mackerels by the door, from the looks of it, he was pretty hungry. 

  
Leia grabbed three mackerels, a bit digusted at the wet feeling and smell of the dead fish, but tried her best not to show it. She threw them into the pool, the dolphin dived in to grab and eat them. 

  
She held onto the little ladder and slowly lowered herself into the pool, she could imagine the dolphin delighted to have some company with him, which he was. The dolphin dove under, leaving only his dorsal fin visible, circling around the young girl while making a clicking sound to "memorize" her through sound waves.

  
Leia smiled as the dolphin swam a little further from her, she hadn't had much fun with another living being for a while, and boy was it a relief that she did now. The dolphin leaped over the little girl, her eyes agaped in amazement, the dolphin dived back in rather close to her and continued to jump some more, circluing around her. 

  
The dolphin swam up towards her, offering his dorsal fin to grab on to. Leia hesitantly did so, the dolphin swimming laps around the pool, although she felt like she was about to fall off, the girl was having a time of her life.

  
After the little joyride, she got out of the pool and eyed the frisbee, without much thought, she grabbed it and threw it towards the pool, the dolphin jumped up to grab it, Leia's smile growing a bit wider with each catch. She decided to try throwing it at the further end of the pool, steadying herself, she threw it once again, the dolphin positioned itself for the catch, when suddenly, as he jumped.- 

"I got it!" said a voice that wasn't her's, it was very peculiar as no one else was in the room...  
Leia stood there in shock, mouth wide open, as the dolphin caught the frisbee, diving back into the ocean. For a minute, there was no sign of him resurfacing, but a bright flash of blue accompanied by a bunch of bubbles on the water surface. 

  
Finally the dolphin popped up from the water, only...the bottom half of it (lower waist to legs) was still a dolphin. The top half was that of a young boy, about the same age as her, his skin was dark, his dark green hair was tied in a ponytail and supported by two yellow seashell clips and his eyes were a deep gray. 

  
The boy threw the frisbee back at her, she jumped off the sides to grab it, falling straight into the pool. When she resurfaced she was staring right back at the boy.   
"You...you talked?!...and you're a...merman?!" Leia questioned in shock and disbelief, she looked down into the water for a split second to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. "I did?" The boy asked, looking down at his hands, realizing he revealed his true form to a human. "Oh! I guess I did! Uh, I guess the hermit's out of the Krabby, so to speak. Perhaps I should introduce myself, Leia" The boy said, playing off this rather surprising situation. 

  
"And you know my name?!" Leia asked in complete awe, "Nothing wrong with my hearing, above water, underwater, heck, even through doors!" The boy answered nonchalantly.   
"I'm Hau" the boy introduced himself. "Hau...Is it said like "how are you doing?" Leia questioned, confused at the rather unsual name, unsual for her at least. "Pretty much" Hau confirmed. "A bit of a...unique name" Leia commented. 

  
"Kukui gave it to me, he said that I reminded him of the hibiscus flowers that we decorate the kingdom with during festivals." Hau explained. Leia's eyes widened at the mention of a kingdom "Amazing! Your kingdom?" Leia asked curiously, wanting to know more about it. "Right, My kingdom, it's..." Hau was about to tell her, but he stopped before he could continue, his expression turned from his usual cheerful look to one of panic, which was a rare feeling for one like him to show. 

  
"Oh no! My kingdom! Kukui! What was I thinking?! How long have I've been here?!" Hau frantically exclaimed as he swam in very small circles, realizing he'd been distracted by the whole "getting-caught-in-a-net thing". "About 5 days..." Leia told him, remembering that today was Thursday, it was Sunday when the Nether Agency found him.   
"5 days?! What a disaster! I gotta get out of here!" Hau responded. "Calm down, hold on! What's going on? What's the problem?" Leia asked in confusion, grabbing onto Hau's shoulders to keep him in place.

  
Hau took a deep breath, his expression slightly going back to the usual jovialness. "When I swam into that net, I was searching for Kukui and my grandpa, Hala. They went missing, and I was worried they're in trouble or hurt, or worse. I have to find them before it's too late!" He explained. "Leia, please help me get out of here!" he pleaded. 

Leia swam closer to Hau and hugged him from the front. "Of course I'll help you, Hau!" she declared. It took almost no time to climb out of the pool and open the hatch using the lever by the pool's boarder gate. 

"There you go, Mom said you were almost fully healed anyway, so she wouldn't mind." Leia told the merboy with a comforting smile. "I guess this is goodbye. I'd like to thank your mother, but she'd think you were going cuckoo." Hau replied gratefully "Believe me, my mother can be full of suprises...are you sure you have to go?" Leia replied rather saddened at seeing her new friend go. "Kukui is my king, Leia, and Hala is my grandfather. If they need my help, I can't fail them. But I'll never forget you" Hau responded with a smile, he too was disheartened of having to leave her. 

  
"I won't forget you either, Hau. Good luck...and take care..." Leia bid him farewell, sadly watching him swim out to sea, changing back into his regular dolphin form. 

Little did she know that surprise encounter was only the beginning, the beginning of a quest that will change her life forever...

**[End of Chapter One, to Be Continued in Chapter 2]**


	2. A Kingdom in Need

It was Saturday, two days after Leia meet the dolphin merboy known as Hau. She missed him dearly even though she didn't know him for very long, looking down at the ocean, sitting on the docks of the Hau'oli City Marina, lost in thought whilst her dangling foot was just barely scraping the waters surface. She looked at the transmitter device her mother gave to her before she headed out, the device was something that the ecologists such as her mother created. They hoped they can use it to report and find any injured pokemon or large amounts of pollution. Since she was going to the beach, her mother gave her one and told her to use if she encountered something troubling.

A sudden splash caught her attention, looking up from the transmitter, she saw the silhouette of a dolphin on the horizon. Her mouth agape in anticipation and stuffing the transmitter into her bag, although she liked to believe he returned, there was a small voice of doubt saying he was never coming back. However her mind clung onto that bit of hope as the dolphin swam close to her, a bright flash of blue and bubbles appeared underwater as it was mere inches from her.

Leia's smile was wider than ever as she saw none other than Hau, resurfacing quickly, splashing the young girl with a bit of water as he did so. "Hau! I'm so happy to see you again! I've been thinking about you since you left! Did you find your missing king and grandpa?" Leia excitedly greeted the merboy, resisting the urge to jump in and hug him right on the spot. "No...things have only gotten worse!" Hau replied in a dim voice seldom heard, he had to take a break between words, heavily panting between them. "Slow down, take your time...What do you mean?" Leia questioned, waiting patiently for Hau to catch his breath. 

"All sorts of weird things are happening in the kingdom! Oh, it's too hard for me to explain it all...If only you could see it." Hau told her, unable to shape all that he's seen into words. "I'll go back there with you! Then the both of us can get to the bottom of it." Leia suggested. Hau looked at her with a slightly confused expression "Nice one, Leia. But leave the jokes to me. Human lungs would never last where i'm from" Hau chuckled, admiring her eagerness to help, not taking her idea seriously. 

"Oh but I can! There's some diving gear in the facility that's just my size, let me go with you, please!" Leia pleaded. "Well now that you mention that...Okay! I could use all the help I can get!" Hau agreed, delighted in knowing now that she could aid him on his mission despite their physical differences. "I'll be right back, wait for me right here" Leia instructed and ran off to the Nether Facility to fetch the diving suit (and her trash bag). 

A few minutes later, she arrived back at the marina to find Hau waiting, swimming around in small circles. She took a moment to put on the fins, gloves, and mask. After strapping on the oxygen tank to her back, she jumped into the water. "Alright, now that you're ready i'll lead the way!, hop on and strap on tight!" Hau told her, Leia grabbed onto his dorsal fin and hopped onto his back as if he was giving her a piggyback ride.

Hau swam out onto the ocean sea now with Leia on tow, both of them could spot a large yacht on the horizon. Swimming even closer towards it, they saw a large stream of oil and garbage seeping through an open hole on the side of the black and white decorated ship. "Ew...I certainly wasn't hoping to see such filth right away..." Leia murmured to herself. "I believe you humans call that "bilge", right?" Hau commented. "That's one way to call it, utterly revolting would be another" Leia muttered, thinking she was being clever.

"I don't think I've ever seen a ship like that before" Hau said, eyeing the patterns and giant skull symbol plastered on it. Leia's eyes widened at the sight of the familiar skull decal. "Oh I have...Skull Industries..." She replied in a terrified manner. "Who?" Hau grew curious after she mentioned who owns the yacht. "Skull Industries is a business corporation, they mostly sell oil, but also some other things like sharpedo tooth necklaces and all sorts of "bling" " Leia explained, Hau shook at the mention of the necklace. "My mother told me that they used to be just a bunch of hooligans that disrupted events and stole peoples pokemon for money...but now...they've moved on from that, and definitely not in a good way..." She continued. "They're why the Nether Agency was created...to stop their toxins from harming and spreading further...so to speak." 

Eyeing the stream of trash, she got off of Hau's back and swam towards it. Taking out her trash she stuffed some of the rubbish into it, except for a clear jar, which she stowed it away in her regular bag, feeling it might come in handy. "For now we should focus on finding your king...and your grandpa." She suggested to him after clearing a narrow pathway through the bilge. Hoping on Hau's back once again, the two made their way through the garbage and filth and continued their way to his kingdom. 

"You know...until know, I only thought merpeople existed in fairy tales. That there was no way any human-like life was living under the sea." Leia told Hau, slightly bored of the silence going on between them as they made their way. "What other "porpoise" would I have to disguise myself as a regular dolphin?" Hau joked, Leia chuckling at his pun. They usually did that to find food as well, but that was beside the point. 

Hau stopped in a spot between a little far away from the islands, but close enough were you could see all four out on the horizon, Leia got off his back when she got the hint that they were there. "Time to dive, Leia! We're close to my kingdom, Tapulia. You still want to continue, right?" Hau told her. "Of course, Hau! Do you think your friends will let me help?" Leia asked. "Maybe not at first, Leia, They're a little afraid of humans, you know. Humans have given us some pretty bad experiences, you know" Hau answered. "But i'm sure you'll do just fine! So, get ready to dive!" Hau reassured her.

Leia checks the pressure in her tanks, wets her mask, and clears her regulator. After giving Hau a thumbs up, the two submerged themselves into the deep blue sea. 

The two swam downwards towards a big area of tangled seaweed "That's a lot of seaweed up ahead...maybe there's another way to get to your kingdom." Leia suggested nervously "We got to go through, Kukui used to clear a path for us....but it's gotten overgrown. But don't worry! Just follow my lead!" Hau told her. "Okay...I'll try" Leia replied, unsure of herself. 

Hau swam through the seaweed with Leia tailing behind him. When the two made it through, Leia's eyes widened at the sight of the kingdom. It was large, as big as Alola itself, there were many buildings made up of old ruins, statues made of bronze and stone adorned the place. "Wow..." Leia muttered in astonishment, "She's beautiful, isn't she? Her name is Tapulia, my home" Hau said, the two then swam towards courtyard of the largest building. 

"You should go talk to Burnet, she's the king's wife, If anyone would know what you need to do to help us, It would be her. I'm going to go see what's been going on since I left. I'll be at the town if you need me. Good luck, Leia" Hau instructed her, then swam eastward towards his hometown. Leia swam into the large, more futuristic looking building. 

Inside the building, there were two thrones, one for the king and the other for the queen. The king's throne was empty, while upon the other sat a figure. The bottom half was that of a Basking Shark, while the top half was that of a tan skinned woman with spiky white hair and yellow eyes. "Ah! A human! What brings you here to our glorious kingdom?" The woman greeted her, a little startled that a human was in the kingdom, but still in a rather friendly manner, that "glorious kingdom" thing clearly didn't live up. 

"My name is Leia, I was brought here by Hau. I want to help the kingdom!" Leia told her. "Queen Burnet" the women replied, introducing herself. "He told me to see you, he said you might know about what I should do" Leia explained the situation. Burnet thought for a moment, before remembering "Well, Leia, the books (made with paper made of seaweed) speak of a prophecy. That if the kingdom be in danger, a human child would come to aid us in our time of need" Burnet told her. 

"A human child...could that be me?" Leia asked, unsure if she was fit for the job. "It's hard to say right now...tell you what, If you can prove yourself by giving me a symbol of trust from the citizens, then i'm sure you can save the kingdom." Burnet told her. Leia hesitated for a moment "I'll do my best..." Leia told the queen and left the throne room. 

**[End of Chapter 2, To be Continued in Chapter 3]**


End file.
